The Darkest Place

A bingeable, edge-of-your-seat mystery (An Inspector Tom Reynolds Mystery Book 4)

By: Jo Spain

Narrated by: Aoife McMahon

'A deeply satisfying read' Sunday Times

Christmas Day, and DCI Tom Reynolds receives an alarming call. A mass grave has been discovered on Oileán na Caillte, the island which housed the controversial psychiatric institution St. Christina's. The hospital has been closed for decades and onsite graves were tragically common. Reynolds thinks his adversarial boss is handing him a cold case to sideline him.

But then it transpires another body has been discovered amongst the dead - one of the doctors who went missing from the hospital in mysterious circumstances forty years ago. He appears to have been brutally murdered.

As events take a sudden turn, nothing can prepare Reynolds and his team for what they are about to discover once they arrive on the island . . .

PRAISE FOR JO SPAIN'S TOM REYNOLDS SERIES

'A stunning read' Woman's Way

'Refreshing and full of twists' Express

'Clever, pacey, compulsive' Sunday Mirror

'Expertly crafted, deeply immersive and timely' Irish Independent

(P)2018 Quercus Editions Limited©2018 Joanne Spain

Critic reviews

Deft plotting and expert handling of tension make for an intelligent mystery

Absolutely my comfort reading

Packed with fascinating details . . . this is a satisfying mystery

Atmospheric and compelling

Jo Spain's vivid thriller explores the dark secrets from Ireland's past that continue to haunt Irish society today

In a very strong year for Irish crime-fiction debuts, Jo Spain's With Our Blessing is among the most assured . . . With Our Blessing picks at the scabs of recent Irish history to reveal raw and gaping wounds

Spain's vivid thriller explores the dark secrets of Ireland's past

Brilliant! Fast paced, well researched and sensitive. Jo Spain is a sparkling new talent

Fiendishly clever . . . and a big fat twist is lobbed into the ending like a hand grenade

Reliably assured plotting, sympathetic characters - and something horrifyingly dark lurking at the edges - make Spain's latest DCI Tom Reynolds title a deeply satisfying read

I’m so sad they changed the narrator!!!!

Man, I’m so sad they changed the narrator from the guy who did the first 3 audiobooks. It was harder to get into because of it BUT this narrator is still very good. It was just re change that threw me off. Once I got used to it it was a non issue. The story is wonderful, although the solving of the case was kinda “wham bam boom” over with which was kinda disappointing. Still highly recommend but it wasn’t my favorite of the series

Put This Irish Mystery on Your List!

I’m a huge fan of Tana French, Dervla McTiernan, and Jess Kidd (Irish authors, all!). This book is the first I’ve read by Spain, and while her plotting skills are subtler, she is a wonderful writer with an excellent ear for dialogue.

I didn’t know this was the fourth book in the series (audible doesn’t even carry the first few!), but it didn’t matter too much to enjoy the story.

Definitely worth a credit. My only critique is that I felt a bit confused at the end (because I am unfamiliar with the stock characters of the police dept), but again—I don’t think I’m missing much. Looking forward to reading more, and I’m surprised how few ratings she has here. I hope Audible makes some of her books available through the plus catalog; I think she’d find a great fan base here (especially with A.M. as the reader). She is wonderful (per usual!).

Creepy, But A Great Narrator

$10 members sale, but this is the last time, I do not read the publisher’s summery carefully!!! I purchased as I love Aoife McMahon’s narrations. I went by best selling by this author and suffered 7 hrs of a creepy story. No more for me!!! The summery states controversial psychiatric institution, this was a story of an insane asylum!!! So BEWARE! Do not get me wrong, very clever who dun it mystery, and I love Irish mysteries and brogue, but I had a hard time following this very simple story set on an island. I usually do not mind going back to figure out what clue I missed to make sense of the journey. In this story, I was NOT going back. I do not buy a book for the last two hours of a story.
Were my comments of help?

Amazing narrator

I found this author because I love this narrator who did a fantastic job with the Dervla McTiernsn books which I really liked. But I got really hooked on Jo Spain. This is another wonderful story that also informs about the darker side of Irish (and psychiatric) history.

Great Narrator of a Great Story!!

Great Story with a twist at the end that I was not expecting!
The narrator was Superb!

enjoyed it

I usually keep to books like this but only if about a female main character, read by a female and written by a female. This exception was very enjoyable.